Ministries and other national bodies

Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Kheng received a letter from Sam Rainsy who called for the release of Meach Sovannara, head of CNRP’s information and media department, and will send the letter to the Ministry of Justice, a senior official said Friday. ...

Cambodia and southwestern China’s Chongqing city on Friday jointly organized a conference on trade and investment, aiming at further enhancing bilateral ties and cooperation, officials said. The half-day event was attended by some 20 Chinese company representatives from Chongqing city and around 80 Cambodian commerce officials ...

Figures from the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction show that more than $2 billion worth of Cambodian construction projects have been given the green light so far this year. ...

The newly established National Commercial Arbitration Center (NCAC) may have been set up to al­low businesses to settle disputes outside the court system, but it still needs support from judges and court officials to do its work effectively, its president said on Friday. Speaking at ...

When Hay Bunny left her home in Prey Veng province some five years ago to find a job in Phnom Penh, she was not expecting to wind up living in a small tin shack hemmed in by dozens of nearly identical dwellings on a single ...

Cambodia and Malaysia expect to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by the end of the year that would reopen the pipeline of local maids being sent to work there, officials said on the sidelines of a final round of discussions yesterday between the countries. ...

Germany’s ambassador to Cambodia, Joachim Baron von Marschall, yesterday cautioned against too much optimism in the land sector in the face of ongoing disputes and forced evictions. The ambassador made the comments at a workshop on sustainable land policy in the capital, where speakers from ...

Cambodia on Wednesday increased the monthly minimum wage for garment workers by 28% to $128, falling short of union workers’ demands and creating the potential for further strikes in the country. Ath Thun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union, said the ...

Cambodia on Wednesday decided to increase the monthly minimum wage in the garment sector to 123 U.S. dollars, up 23 percent from the current 100 U.S. dollars, Labor Minister Ith Samheng said. ...

Cambodia on Wednesday raised the controversial monthly minimum wage for garment workers by 28 percent, a decision likely to infuriate unions seeking a higher increase and revive calls for strike action. Sixteen members of the Labour Ministry’s Labour Advisory Committee voted for the government-proposed minimum ...

Independent labour unions will take part in the Ministry of Labour’s Labour Advisory Committee (LAC) meeting today, possibly making their decision on next year’s minimum wage in Cambodia’s garment sector. NIFTUC and the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) considered boycotting the LAC ...

Cambodia’s international donors met Tuesday to decide whether they will comply with the government’s recent move to increase the per diem that civil servants receive for attending work-related, out-of-office events. In July, Prime Minister Hun Sen signed off on a sub-decree raising the Daily Subsistence Allowance ...

The National Assembly’s banking and finance commission met Monday to discuss the proposed $3.8-billion budget for 2015, with lawmakers from both parliamentary parties agreeing that more specific details are needed before they can evaluate the plan, according to the commission’s deputy chairman, Son Chhay. Mr. Chhay, ...

Opposition CNRP lawmaker Pol Ham on Monday said he will visit the site of a proposed hydropower dam in Koh Kong province on Monday with colleagues from his parliamentary commission before they quiz government officials about the controversial project later this month. If built, the 108-megawatt ...

The proposed 2015 education budget is inching upwards from last year’s funding, however it still falls short of internationally recommended minimums. Education is slated to take up a $396 million chunk of the $3.75 billion draft budget, which has yet to be approved by the National ...

Cambodia is quickly becoming a hub for Japanese exports, according to the latest figures from the Japan External Trade Agency, JETRO. The state-run agency’s latest trade figures show Cambodia exported more than $584 million worth of locally made products to Japan over the first nine months ...

The National Assembly’s mixed-party commission on finance will meet Monday to begin discussing the 2015 draft budget, its deputy chairman said Sunday. CNRP chief whip Son Chhay said the CPP-chaired committee would meet this morning to discuss the $3.8 billion budget and plan a meeting with ...

The Ministry of Information yesterday announced a three-year public consultation period on a new access to information draft law that has been in the works since 2007. But freedom of information advocates greeted the news with scepticism, citing a lack of representation from civil society on ...

Around 3.2 million foreign tourists visited Cambodia in the first nine months of the year, a five percent rise from 3.05 million over the same period last year. The majority of tourists came from Vietnam, China, South Korea, Laos and Thailand, Xinhua news agency reported. ...

A new wetland protected area may be implemented in Battambang province following talks between scientists, Asian governments and conservation groups held in Siem Reap this week. The message seems to have been heard, at least by the Ministry of Environment, which yesterday said it would ...

Cambodia plans to open bids for concessions on 19 onshore oil and gas exploration blocks to promote investment in the sector, a senior official at the country’s Ministry of Mines and Energy said on Wednesday. The Southeast Asian country is also keen to talk with international ...

Since a nationwide census of foreigners began in August, fines totalling nearly $200,000 have been paid into government coffers, an immigration official told the Post yesterday. “According to the law, the immigration police can fine them 200,000 riel [about $49] to 500,000 riel and this ...

Officials from the Ministry of Mines and Energy checked on a quarry in Kampot province for the second time yesterday amid allegations it is operating illegally thanks to local corruption. The quarry, which is owned by husband and wife Hok Chhenda and Tep Sokha, was ...

As about 60 percent of the tens of thousands of students who took the national high school exam—some twice—this year cope with failure, Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron said this week the dismal grades would only have a “minor impact” on university admissions and jobseekers. ...